TechFlow — Coinbase has published an article outlining five Base neutrality principles, which are jointly maintained by the Base and Coinbase teams.
The specific principles are as follows:
1: Law of Chains. Coinbase is committed to upholding the "Law of Chains" as the primary neutrality principle for Base. This principle establishes a common standard across all OP Stack blockchains and ensures that builders and users alike have access to Base’s neutral and open block space. As the second core developer on the OP Stack, the Base team worked closely with Optimism to draft this principle and will continue collaborating with the Optimism Collective to refine it based on community feedback.
2: Your Keys, Your Crypto. Coinbase does not hold or control any cryptocurrency that users bring onto the Base network. Just like on the Ethereum mainnet, ownership of crypto assets depends solely on holding valid private keys. Users—not Coinbase—are responsible for their actions on the network.
3: Transaction ordering is a free market. Coinbase does not influence, discriminate against, or prioritize the order of transactions occurring on Base. Like a postal service, the Base network relays messages based solely on time of receipt and the optional priority fees set by users. No Coinbase products, customers, or partners receive special rights to jump the queue.
4: Equal access to information. Coinbase will not misuse any non-public information collected from Base. Private transaction data—including any insights gained by the Base team through operating the sequencer, such as transaction ordering—is not used for marketing or any other commercial purpose. Coinbase and its partners will rely on the same publicly available data as everyone else.
5: Freedom to exit. Coinbase imposes no restrictions on withdrawals from Base. Users dissatisfied with Base are free to withdraw their assets at any time without penalty. Coinbase will not use exit barriers to defend subpar experiences or policies.
